


in the way that butter cannot

by anawesomeblossom



Category: Silent Hill (Video Game Series)
Genre: Gen, Monsters, Silent Hill 2, Sympathy for the Devil, mannequins of Woodside Apartments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-14
Updated: 2008-02-14
Packaged: 2018-11-23 02:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11393706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anawesomeblossom/pseuds/anawesomeblossom
Summary: the mannequins of woodside put on a play





	in the way that butter cannot

When the sun cuts through the fog on an early Sunday morning, denizens of Silent Hill rue that a good day has been lost.  The patient demons seek shelter from the sun in the apartments, and those little demons, what do they know of order, art, and civility?  The mannequins shudder and shake their legs in protest, begging Father to make their brothers play elsewhere.  
  
-Deal- He rules; and the law has been laid.  
  
The mannequins, they droop and they stumble, they twitch and they convulse, tortured by Father's judgment against them.  They will just have to work to redeem themselves for who shines brighter in Father's eye than Daughter?  And so the mannequins huddle together while the patient demons hold spitting contests on the upper floors; they have an idea.  
  
-We'll work hard with Brothers to put on a play for Father- pumps a mannequin we shall call Hettie, for she brought them together.  But Hettie is not called Hettie by her sisters: the mannequins have no names for each other; they have no words.  Hettie is Hettie, though, and she tells her sisters they will put on a play for Father.  
  
The mannequins all flutter at what a wonderful idea this is, but it is Nannie (named so for she is the eldest) who raises a leg, high and elegant:  
  
-What shall it be about?-  
  
Hettie and the other mannequins strike their limbs together, wondering what they should do.  
  
-A dog!-  
-In the woods!-  
-Dogs don't go in woods- Hettie counters -They go in houses-  
-Let's sing!-  
-We can't sing-  It is Nannie this time.  
-Then let's fly!- the excitable, youngest mannequin flutters wildly.  We will name her Paige, for her dream is to fly in the way that butter cannot.  
-We can't fly- again, Nannie.  
-We can, too!- Paige straightens indignantly.  -If we dream it, it can happen!  We can fly!-  
  
All the mannequins begin to kick their legs and dream of birds, but Nannie can only wiggle:  
  
-If you say so.-  
  
But they can't: and so the mannequins of Woodside Apartments remain earthbound.  Dejected, the mannequin crowd breaks up, and the sisters shuffle off to various areas of the building to tut their brothers; only Hettie, Nannie, and Paige remain.  
  
-We need to find costumes- Hettie perseveres, and maybe when they find their costumes they'll find their play.  Nannie and Paige kick in excitement for they want to look beautiful and stand apart from their sisters in front of Father.  They begin to search the rooms immediately.  
  
Hettie finds a dollar bill: she knows not of what human currency is, nor does she care; she cannot read "In God We Trust" or know what it means; but she finds a dollar bill and decides to wear it between her legs as a hat.  Her sisters clap approvingly.  
  
In the next room, Nannie finds a flower pot without a flower: instead, there is mold where the plant wilted from root rot.  The mannequins think it looks beautiful, and so the eldest holds it high above her between with two proud legs.  
  
Paige despairs because her two sisters have found costumes and look beautiful, but she is still so plain.  A cockroach pities her and climbs up her legs.  The youngest sister is so excited by her newfound costume that she jerks about wildly, throwing the cockroach off who then scurries home to tell its family of what a grand adventure it had.  Paige almost cries at this, but she can't since she lacks tear ducts and eyes.  She is delighted, though, when Hettie brings her a pair of pantyhose with runs all-throughout like her favorite wallpaper: they are wings that her non-pot-holding sister ties around her ankles.  
  
At last, their costumes are complete.  But they still lack a play.  
  
Nannie sets aside her flower pot when she spies an open book on a former tenant's desk.  The mannequin knows nothing of words or what "How To Firm And Tone Your Abs" means, but she sees the pictures and excitedly tells her sisters of her plan.  Ecstatic that Nannie found them a play, the sisters rush to gather their siblings.  
  
It takes hard work: they sweat, they tumble, and they crash into each other; but the mannequins and patient demons finally perfect their play late in the afternoon.  And what luck - the fog is back!  
  
They hold the play in the courtyard with their nurse big sisters and their abstract big brothers gathered around the poolside; Father sits on the lawn chair throne and nods at His children in the empty pool to begin.  
  
The naked mannequins are the first to move: the center ones kick their legs with grace and strength while their surrounding sisters pirouette delicately; then come the patient demons, jumping and spitting glorious streams of acid over their sisters; and finally Hettie and Paige wiggle their legs, revolving around Nannie who holds her flower pot high at the center of everything.  They all finish with a little jump, and it is beautiful.  
  
-It is good- Father nods, and His children squirm in joy. -But not good enough-  Upon seeing the crestfallen faces of His younger offspring, and seeing His elder children shirk away in disappointment, Father adds: -For Mother-  
  
There is a flurry of activity in the pool and on the deck, the mannequins, the patient demons, the bubble head nurses, and the abstract daddies all echoing:  
  
-Mother!-  
  
Father holds up a powerful, silencing hand, and one of the younger patient demons is so startled that he squirts upon Father's triangular helm.  Life stills in the courtyard, but Father bears toward His young son's accidental transgression no ill.  Instead He announces:  
  
-She has come-  
  
At once they know; His children weep in joy, hobbling off to hide in wait for Mother.  How they've waited for this day, the day where She returned!  Mother will have to see their individual parts in the play She missed: they were wonderful, and they will show Her!  
  
They will show James how much they've missed Her.


End file.
